Action to tackle shortage of GPs in Woodley after NHS review

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Six extra GPs are expected to be recruited to practices in Woodley following an urgent NHS review prompted by the Reading East MP Rob Wilson.

Mr Wilson called a public meeting in April to tackle concerns raised by people living in Woodley experiencing difficulties in getting to see their GP at the three local practices, Woodley Centre Surgery, Parkside Family Practice and Loddon Vale Practice.

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Mr Wilson yesterday welcomed the three-month interim report from NHS England (Thames Valley) outlining the steps taken to sort out the problems voiced by the 100-strong audience at the public meeting.

The report outlines actions taken by NHS England and the Clinical Commissioning Groups and these include:

- Extra phone lines and staff to improve phone access at Woodley Centre and Parkside and working with patients to improve the efficiency at Loddon Vale.

- More GPs – one starting in September at Woodley Centre, three to be recruited at Parkside and one starting in September and another to be taken on at Loddon Vale.

- Making sure all three surgeries have online booking.

- Working with patients to improve services.

Compared to other Wokingham CCG practices which have an average of one full-time GP per 2,058 patients, Loddon Vale is much worse off with 2,215 patients per GP, Woodley Centre is slightly worse off with 2,072 patients and Parkside is better than the Wokingham average with 2,002 per GP.

Mr Wilson said: “The interim report suggests a step in the right direction, with positive action being taking to increase the number of GPs available at the practices and improving access to telephone and online booking services. It’s also reassuring to learn that the practices are looking to improve communication to ensure that patient feedback is taken into consideration.

“Whilst these changes look positive on paper, the real test of their effectiveness will be determined by the patients who use the services. The main aim of the actions being taken is to improve access to GP practices, and I therefore encourage my constituents to feed back to me whether they notice any discernible improvements in the services they are receiving.

“There was also concern at the public meeting about the ability of the practices to absorb the influx of patients from new housing developments in Woodley, and I hope that this has been factored in to the actions being taken.

“I look forward to receiving the full report in three months’ time, by which point I hope that all the necessary improvements will have been made.”